Bangor Priest Arrested after Being Accused of Possessing Child Pornography

By Judy Harrison
Bangor Daily News
September 15, 2014

https://bangordailynews.com/2014/09/15/news/bangor/bangor-priest-arrested-after-being-accused-of-possessing-child-pornography/

Adam Metropoulos

The priest of St. George Greek Orthodox Church was arrested Monday after being accused of possessing child pornography and photographing a woman without her permission.

Adam Metropoulos, 52, of Bangor was charged with one count each of possession of sexually explicit material, a Class C crime, and violation of privacy, a Class D crime, according to Bangor police.

George Leakos, vice president of the St. George Parish Council, declined to comment on the arrest Monday evening.

Metropoulos is being held at the Penobscot County Jail. Bail of $10,000 cash was requested by the Penobscot County district attorney’s office.

The investigation began Saturday when a woman reportedly complained to police that she believed she had been photographed or video recorded without her permission or knowledge.

If Metropoulos is unable to make bail before Wednesday, he would appear before a judge.

Metropoulos has been the priest at St. George, the only Eastern Orthodox congregation north of Lewiston, since September 2001. A former high school chemistry teacher in Millinocket, he attended the church, dedicated on Sept. 7, 1930, before he entered seminary in Brookline, Massachusetts, in 1997. Before being ordained, Metropoulos often assisted his predecessors at services.

A native of Saginaw, Michigan, he moved to Maine in 1990 to teach at Stearns High School.

The church at 90 Sanford St., which has about 90 members, marked it 80th anniversary in 2010. Because it always has been a small congregation,St. George has held a high-profile fundraiser in the community for most of its 80 years. St. George’s Greek Ball once was a high point in the Bangor social season. A more casual version of the formal dance was held in the 1940s through the 1970s.

For the past 12 years, however, the church has raised between 22 percent and 26 percent of its annual budget from the Greek food sold at a booth at the American Folk Festival, according to a previously published report.

If convicted, Metropoulos faces up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000 on the possession of child ponography charge and up to a year in prison and a fine of up to $2,000 on the violation of privacy charge.